Plastics and environment.

Getting rid of plastics after usage (which is usually a very short term) is notoriously difficult. One option is dumping in ever increasing landfill sites, but most plastics will not biodegrade and once underground, will remain intact almost indefinitely. The second alternative is burning the waste plastic, but here there is the possibility of toxic emissions which could be highly poisonous. Neither method is at all satisfactory.

The myth of biodegradability.

Biodegradable plastic takes a very long time to break down and prevents the plastic from being recycled. It is environmentally unfriendly because it does not biodegrade into something useful - resources are still being lost. So biodegradability is no longer the appropriate answer and is currently sourcing a polyethylene plastic bag that can be recycled - again and again and again. Recycling is the way forward.

Plastics recycling.

It makes far more sense to reduce our consumption and overcome problems associated with recycling, especially as plastic is made from oil which is a non-renewable resource. A major obstacle here is the wide variety of plastics which cannot be mixed and recycled successfully: collecting, sorting and reprocessing various types is very costly. But the technology does exist and the variety of uses for recycled plastics is growing all the time. And, of course, the energy and raw material required is only minimal compared with production using fresh raw materials.

The future.

Plastics recycling is a subject which concerns the European Commission. It will be introducing measures to force a dramatic increase in waste plastics recycling and industrialists believe it will aim to reduce the volume of plastics going to landfill by about 80%. Draft legislation is expected shortly, promoting and enforcing plastics recycling. In the meantime, lobby your local MP, protest at packaging, write to manufacturers, and make your voice heard - it's about time!